Wireless communication technology provides accessibility of communications for callers from virtually any location. While radio has provided a wireless medium for delivery of advertising messages for decades, the radio medium has limitations for advertisers based upon the cost of on-air time and programming schedules. Road signage has clear space limitations coupled with minimal “viewing” periods during which a prospective customer is exposed to the message.
Since many prospective customers now travel regularly with wireless telephone equipment at the disposal, it may be advantageous to provide advertising services via wireless telephone linking. From a marketing perspective, a system for wireless telephone delivery of advertising messages is ideally one in which the prospective customer initiates the call, thereby eliminating the time and cost expenditures related to “cold-call” advertising delivery services of the past. In addition, the call should be free to the prospective customer and the system should be equipped to modify existing billing procedures in order to shift the cost of the advertiser.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,020 of Liebesny, et al. discloses a method for providing traffic updates to cellular telephone customers within a regional calling area. User input of a code representing the traffic zone of interest to the user automatically connects to either a live operator or a taped message including the requested traffic information. While the Liebesny method does deliver user-requested information via cellular linking, its delivery is local and the messages fixed in scope.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,793 of Conway, et al. provides a system for automatically delivering advertising, traffic status, directions, or other information to motorists having microwave transmitter/receiver systems at their respective locations. The requirement that the Conway user have the microwave equipment clearly limits the prospective audience and transmission delivery capabilities of such a system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,703 of Roy provides a cellular switching system whereby indicia dialed by the user after a cellular star (*) number is unique to a specific third party advertiser (TPA) and is used to direct the user's call through a special trunk in the switching system in order to deliver the TPA's message to the user. The Roy system utilizes cellular technology to enter into a trunked system, but is clearly limited in its ability to provide switching through an extensive network of advertisers and providers.